Have you seen this image on doors around the hospital and wondered what it is?
The ‘Tree of Life’ is placed on the door of a patient going through the death and dying process. This symbol increases awareness to anyone entering the room that there is a grieving process happening in that space.
Everyone has a role to play in end-of-life care: the PCA offering a hot beverage to a wife in distress, the nurse making more frequent rounds to check on pain control, the physicians bringing a deeper awareness during daily rounding or the environmental services employee entering a room with sensitivity and compassion. For these people, the Tree of Life symbol serves as a non-verbal reminder of the transition that the patient and their loved ones are experiencing.
“This symbol reminds all of us that death is part of the life cycle, it is not a failure,” said Rev. Erica Richmond, M.Div, MA, palliative care chaplain at Hartford Hospital. “The Tree of Life invites each of us to slow down and enter a space with more tenderness and awareness of the patient and family’s needs.”
Although the initiative started after STAR Nurse Denielle Cote attended the NICHE annual conference in 2016, conversations and energy around this concept have been percolating for years. Critical care nurses and managers along with other staff identified the need for a reminder that something significant was occurring on their busy units. Denielle approached Nurse Educator Mary Kate Eanniello about launching such a program at Hartford Hospital. It first launched on CB2 in February of 2017 and then, through collaboration and planning, moved to Bliss11i and C9i. It has now spread to units throughout the hospital.
Chaplains from the Spiritual Care Department always conduct an assessment before putting up the Tree of Life. It is an optional program and one of many bereavement offerings that chaplains can extend to each family.
“It has been a wonderful collaboration with nursing as this project has evolved and been introduced in new places,” said Colleen Mulkerin, MSW, LCSW, ACHP-SW, director of palliative care, social work, and spiritual care. “We are thrilled by how many people have embraced this and we hope it will bring great awareness to end of life care. For every room we pass, we are all invited to reflect on what new burdens might have arisen for our patients. Anticipatory grief may not come with a sign or specific goal of care. We are called to be curious.”
“One of my favorite poems by George Odell reminds us how much we are interconnected to one another,” Rev. Richmond said. “His tender poem ends with the lines, ‘We need one another when we come to die, and would have gentle hands prepare us for the journey. All our lives we are in need, and others are in need of us.’ This certainly rings true for so many of our patients and families here at the hospital.”
Units interested in rolling out the Tree of Life initiative should coordinate with their unit chaplain or call the Spiritual Care Department at 860.696.9319.